Reply and take over from the assistant

Your assistant answers customers on its own. Sometimes, though, you’ll want to step in: a sensitive complaint, a large order, or a question only your team can answer. You can take over the conversation, reply yourself, then hand it back to the assistant.

See who is handling the conversation

A badge at the top of the conversation shows the assistant’s state:

Badge	What it means
AI active	The assistant is answering the customer.
AI paused	You or someone on your team is handling the conversation, and the assistant doesn’t reply.
Observe mode	The assistant is silent in every WhatsApp conversation, because AI replies is set to Observe only.

Take over the conversation

1. Open the conversation in Inbox.

2. When the badge shows AI active, click Take over next to it.

3. The badge changes to AI paused, and the assistant stops replying in this conversation only.

Reply to the customer

1. Type your reply in Write a WhatsApp reply… at the bottom of the conversation.

2. To send an image or file, click Attach a file and choose it. To drop it before sending, click Remove attachment.

3. Click Send reply.

The reply reaches the customer on WhatsApp from your store’s number and appears in the conversation. When you reply yourself, the assistant also stops replying in this conversation for a while so it doesn’t talk over you.

TODOScreenshot coming soontkana in Salla (English), Inbox: a WhatsApp conversation inside the 24-hour window with the AI active badge, Take over button, and the Write a WhatsApp reply box with Attach a file and Send reply

Hand the conversation back

When you’re done, click Resume AI at the top of the conversation. The badge goes back to AI active, and the assistant answers the customer’s next message.

Reply limits

• Replies are available only for WhatsApp conversations. You can’t reply to Widget conversations from here.
• Attachment size: up to 5MB, and the file type must be one WhatsApp accepts.
• The 24-hour window: you can’t send a free-form reply more than 24 hours after the customer’s last message. Use an approved template, see Send a template after the 24-hour window.
• If you see The reply could not be delivered. Your draft has been kept., your text is still in the box. Try again.

Tip

If the assistant is in Observe mode, there’s no need to take over: just write your reply. To turn the assistant back on for every conversation, see Choose how the assistant replies.